I use to be a Stay-at-Home mom, I loved the battle but I love my career as well. I have recently re-entered the workforce. My oldest recently started Kindegarden and my little one just started Day-Care. Hubby is supportive but I still need this blog as my outlet. Enjoy the ride!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

The Clothing Battle

I need to decide how to best approach this. My soon to be 16..I mean 6 year old has very strong oppinions on fashion. Now that she in in school I want her to look decent during the week. So every night we have our battle. She wants to wear pants and long sleeves (when it is 90 degrees) with flip flops. Mind you nothing matches. I want her to wear a nice capri outfit. She conceeds on the capris but insists on a shirt that doesn't fit anymore (or has a huge stain on it). So I suggest skorts and a similar shirt to the one that has a stain...

Rinse and repeat at least 3 more times, add tears and screaming with her finally stating, "FINE!! I WILL JUST WEAR THIS, ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?" as she holds up the first outfit I suggested.

I don't have the strength to do this everynight. Should I just let her wear whatever and live with the consequences? That is just so hard, I don't want her walking out of the house in something completly inappropriate. We go through the flipside of this on the weekends. Then when we are just bumming around the house she comes out of her room wearing an outfit that is dressier (perfect for school) and refuses to put on gym shorts and a t-shirt.

We have two sections in our kids closets. School clothes and play clothes. They get to they age where they want to make their own decisions. Try letting her choose on her own, but make sure she understands she can only choose from one side of the closet.

This is definitely what they refer to when they say to pick your battles wisely.

This is a tough one that you'll be facing for quite a few years -- wait until she is a teenager! Other commenters left great suggestions. I also would remove stained or other items that you don't want her to choose from. On a hot day, if she wears long sleeves, she will learn the hard way. You shouldn't worry too much about what others (teachers, moms, etc.) think of how she is dressed. I'm sure they all have experienced this age group and know how hard it is.

My own daughter loved to watch Punky Brewster reruns and insisted on wearing mismatched socks like Punky. It wasn't worth the tears or stress between us, so I let her assert her individuality in choosing what she wanted to wear.

The other day at the playground, I saw a boy (maybe 6 years old)decked out in Superman pajamas head to toe and a cape. That was one brave Dad who accompanied him.

My daughter (3 yrs old) is like that. I have just developed a rule. I pick on school days and for church and she can pick any other day with guidelines. You can pick but it has to be long sleeves and pants or pants and a sweater. It seems to be working.